254 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



The night was spent high up on the flank of Rose Peak, 

 the dominating mountain south of Mt. Rose. The sit- 

 uation, scenically, could not have been better, for sunset 

 and sunrise could both be seen from our camp. Shelter, 

 however, could scarcely have been worse, for this con- 

 sisted only of two poor rows of mountain scrub, rising 

 somewhat higher than our heads above the snow, and a 

 slight trough in the snow excavated with the aid of our 

 snowshoes. A few other clumps furnished boughs for 

 bed and windbreak. An old stub afforded a few armfuls 

 of wood. The Californian made the bed and furnished 

 the modus dormiendi. Three should sleep in one bed and 

 to keep within the limits set by the covers they should 

 sleep like nested S's, with arms outstretched to clutch 

 the neighbor in front. But here the botanist wavered. 

 He did not relish close contact with the inevitably snoring 

 Californian — ^that is, providing the Californian slept — 

 and so decided to remain on guard until quite drowsy. At 

 length he came, but the covers would not stretch and the 

 snow was cold. So, after a futile struggle for comfort, 

 he decided to return to the fire until midnight, and then 

 to claim the enthusiast's place. Tedious that watch must 

 have been. The fire had been steadily sinking into the 

 snow, leaving a pit, up which it sent its acrid smoke and 

 little warmth to the shivering watchman on its brink. 

 The patience of the Scotch botanist lasted until i a. m., 

 when his sorrows and indignation took voluble expres- 

 sion. The enthusiast was prompted to rise immediately, 

 and found the botanist clinging to the walls of the pit in 

 a vain endeavor to reach the fire and avoid the wind 

 sweeping over the surface of the snow. The botanist 

 retired and the enthusiast perched himself in the pit. 

 Desperately inconvenient became his situation, even in 

 the first quarter hour, nor did a limb jabbed into the side 

 of the pit to keep him from falling into the fire furnish 

 much relief. His physical wants, however, soon stirred his 

 mind to activity. A pile of poles from the tree tops, too 

 green for burning, lay close at hand, and of these he 



